Agenda item

To inform the Committee of the work undertaken by Children’s Services on a day to day basis and to update on the progress and implementation of developments within the areas.

Mrs Louise Storey, Head of Safeguarding and Principal Social Worker and Mrs Cindy Hunter, Head of Social Services presented the report to Committee and advised that the main emphasis of the Children’s Services Update Report was on demand management and performance against targets.

The Committee discussed the high number of Looked After Children and noted that although the figure had not decreased it appeared to have steadied. Mrs Hunter advised that the current focus was on working with children in care in order to move them to permanence such as adoption. It was queried if the target set for the number of Looked After Children was realistic and in response Mrs Hunter advised that the target had been set by considering every individual child and determining potential discharges from care. She added that the target was ambitious but based on analysis.

Members raised concerns that a review was required to ensure that school initiatives on literacy and work ongoing in the community was joined up. It was considered that there were a large number of ongoing schemes in place to improve literacy such as those being undertaken by Head Start and Better Start. Mrs Storey acknowledged that there was a significant amount of funding which was being utilised to provide a large number of schemes. It was agreed that the Committee receive a report to a future meeting detailing the expected outcomes and monitoring framework of schemes such as the Opportunity Areas in order to be assured that funding was achieving outcomes.

Members went on to focus on the work being undertaken by Better Start to ensure children were ‘school ready’ and queried work being carried out on the subsequent steps from primary to secondary school and then from school to work. Councillor Kath Benson, Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning reported that schools worked with colleges and businesses to give aspiration and confidence to young people. She added that preparing young people for work was a priority of the Opportunity Areas.

In response to further questioning regarding the transition between primary and secondary schools, Councillor Benson advised that in her opinion the environment in 2018 was vastly different to the environment a number of years ago. She commented that there was more pressure on young people and that children and young people were considered generally to be not as resilient. She added that children did spend a week at secondary school whilst still at primary school and that further detail on transitions could be provided within the report to be received on School Improvement in November 2018.

Concern was raised that the poor performance of secondary schools had been known for a number of years and queried when improvements would be made. Councillor Benson advised that it was not an easy task to make vast and wide ranging improvements quickly, but that she hoped some improvement in attainment would soon be seen. She highlighted the recent improvements made at Highfield Academy and the latest Ofsted inspection of Unity Academy in achieving a ‘good’ outcome.

Asked about potential impact the Council could have on academies, Councillor Benson reported that all academies were attending and involved in the School Improvement Board and that they were committed to making improvements. The Chairman requested that the report to be provided on School Improvement also included reference to how initiatives had affected results.

Members considered whether it would be possible to ascertain the impact on attainment and performance of academisation of schools and requested that an analysis be undertaken of attainment before and after each school had become an academy. In addition, Members queried whether the performance of lower achievers and children with Special Educational Needs had been analysed to determine whether improvement could be demonstrated at any level. Councillor Benson agreed to report back to the Committee following the meeting on both queries.

The Committee discussed the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and queried the number of Looked After Children who had participated. Further detail was also requested regarding the number of young people who had not completed the Award and the reasons why. Councillor Benson agreed to provide a full response following the meeting.

The Committee went on to consider the performance data provided in relation to demand management and queried the dramatic increase in the number of Section 47 enquiries started per 10,000 population from March 2016 to March 2017. Mrs Hunter agreed to investigate the increase and provide a response following the meeting.

In response to questioning, Mrs Hunter advised that the Police would create a Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP) referral when a young person was identified as at risk of criminal activity and submit it to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub for dissemination and support from partner agencies. In order to keep vulnerable young people out of prison, the Police often worked with young people in order to prevent them from receiving a criminal record. Members discussed Youth Justice in detail, Early Help in place around young people at risk of committing crimes and court directives and agreed to add a future item on Youth Justice to the workplan for detailed consideration.

The Committee agreed:

1. To receive a report to a future meeting detailing the expected outcomes and monitoring framework of schemes such as the Opportunity Areas in order to be assured that funding was achieving outcomes.

2. To receive regular updates on the progress of the Opportunity Areas Delivery Plan.

3. To include detail on how initiatives had impacted upon attainment and the impact of work on Transitions within the report on School Improvement to be received in November 2018.

4. To receive an analysis of attainment before and after each school had become an academy following the meeting.

5. To receive an analysis of the attainment of lower level achievers and children with Special Educational Needs to determine if improvement could be demonstrated following the meeting.

6. To receive detail regarding the number of Looked After Children participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the number of young people who did not complete with the reasons why.

7. To receive detail on the increase in the number of Section 47 enquiries started per 10,000 population from March 2016 to March 2017.

8. To add Youth Justice to the Workplan.